The new sanctions the United States will impose on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) violated a UN statement issued after the sinking of a South Korean warship, a DPRK spokesman said Thursday.

Ri Tong Il, a spokesman for the DPRK delegation at the ASEAN Regional Forum, said the measures announced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were in violation of the July 9 UN statement.

Clinton told reporters Wednesday in Seoul that the United States will introduce new "country-specific" sanctions against the DPRK's procurement of nuclear materials.

The UN Security Council issued a statement on July 9 over Cheonan warship case, unanimously deploring the attack on the South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors in March. The Council, however, stopped short of blaming the DPRK. Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the incident.

The DPRK spokesman also accused the joint U.S.-South Korean naval drills to be staged off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on July 25-28 of posing a major danger to the region.

China on Wednesday also expressed concern over the military exercises.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2010)